FCC will hold big 5G auction
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government will hold a massive auction later this year to bolster 5G service, the next generation of mobile networks. President Donald Trump showcased the announcement Friday, declaring that the race to these faster, more powerful networks is a competition “America must win.”
“We cannot allow any other country to outcompete the United States in this powerful industry of the future,” Trump said at the White House. “We are leading by so much in so many different industries of that type, and we just can’t let that happen.”
Trump also announced a $20 billion plan to expand broadband access to rural areas without it, an extension of an existing program.
5G will mean faster wireless speeds and has implications for technologies like self-driving cars and augmented reality. Trump said it will transform the way people work, learn, communicate and travel, making farms more productive, manufacturers more competitive and health care better. But experts say it’s hard to know now how much life will actually change because of the much-hyped network upgrade.
It will take years to roll out, and the highest data speeds may not reach rural areas at all.
The rollout started last week in the U.S. and South Korea but will take years.
The Federal Communications Commission said Friday that it would hold the largest auction in U.S. history to boost wireless companies’ networks. The auction is set for Dec. 10.
The U.S. is jockeying for position with China over 5G. It has effectively banned Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei from most U.S. networks due to concerns that it might enable Chinese government spying, which Huawei denies. The U.S. has pushed its allies to do the same, with mixed results. Huawei is the world’s largest maker of such equipment.
FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat, criticized the agency’s approach to 5G Friday. She said the U.S. has not auctioned off “midband” spectrum that is better suited to serve rural areas because of how far it can carry signals, and that the Trump administration’s actions on 5G have “set us back.” She cited tariffs on telecom equipment that have raised costs and said the administration has been “alienating allies” on the 5G security issue.